Ladysmith KZN – Family members of the late Mphumzeni Mbongwa, who was brutally killed last year July, say they are not pleased with the way things are going in the case.
Mphumzeni was a teacher at Mabhekazi Combined School in Ekuvukeni.
In July last year, Ekuvukeni police found his body; his throat had been slit.
The deceased’s car was found abandoned 10km away from the crime scene in Ekuvukeni.
After the murder, two suspects aged 18 and 22 were arrested. Belongings of the deceased were found in the possession of the 22-year-old.
Since the arrests, the family says the case has rotated between three different magistrate’s courts (Ekuvukeni,
Ezakheni and Ladysmith).
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“We want to see justice being served upon the ‘rightful people’ who are responsible for the death of one of our own.” Mphumzeni’s family say they also fear for their own lives and are unable to “express themselves” for fear of being killed.
“When my brother died last year, the rumour that someone was trying to rob him was a cover-up to hide the real culprit behind my brother’s brutal murder. His throat was slit as if they were killing a goat. Before my brother died, his heart was not at peace, as there were too many conflicts in the school where he was teaching. At one
stage, he even said he was not going to allow the blood of an innocent person to be spilled,” said a family member who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons.
A Ladysmith Gazette reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Mabhekazi Combined School principal
Mr Madikoane, who described Mphumzeni as a dedicated teacher who went above and beyond his job description. “Mphumzeni was an asset to the school; he was a very dedicated teacher. The community of Ekuvukeni was also shattered after his death. We want to see justice done in this case. That will put me and all the other teachers at ease, because as of now, we are unsafe,” said Mr Madikoane.
The principal says that the deceased’s family told him that Mphumzeni did not want innocent lives to be lost as a result of vicious internal school politics and rivalry between educators for positions at the school.
On Thursday, September 10, the two suspects in this murder case appeared in the Ladysmith Magistrate’s Court. The case was postponed to October 8 and 9.
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Another teacher, Hlengiwe Ndaba of Loskop School, was brutally murdered in August this year and found in a burned bakkie near Bergville.
Two suspects have also been arrested in this case. One of the suspects is a teacher who taught at the same
school as Hlengiwe.
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